Ebook received from the author in exchange for an honest review
ASIN: B009KEXF2C
Pages: 166
Description
Becca and Randy are Harley riding detectives who join forces to find the ruthless killer the press have dubbed The Florist. What does the flower he places in his victim's hands have to do with the sick, twisted way he ends their lives? Will they track him down before he strikes again, or will a turn of events find one of them at the mercy of a demented killer?
My Opinion
This was a fast paced and gripping book that had me both turning pages at a rapid speed and also wanting to put it down at points, especially with the way it started. The start split my opinion but I think the book won me over by the half way point and by the end I was glad I stuck with it and didn't let it put me off.
Normally I hate things like what was described in the first few pages (the way the serial killer murders his victims). I had to skim read it as I'm pretty squeamish for things like that and I really thought I was going to have to give up on the book if it continued. Thankfully though the POV switched to following the detectives with the odd part written from the killer in occasionally so I was able to enjoy the book. The parts where the killer was speaking affected me weirdly, it was twisted and insane and everything was screaming at me to skip it but it in a way the description keeps you transfixed in a perverse way as you don't want to stop reading.
Murder mysteries aren't something I read usually as most of the ones I have read in the past are predictable. Killer Scents was however not. The author concealed the identity of the killer and his motives well as she unraveled the mystery slowly which was great. This may have been down to the lack of background involved in the story so the reader has nothing to guess as we have no information to assume who the killer is though. Personally I would have liked a bit more background, especially on Randy and Becca as it would have helped me connect with the characters more and would have added length to the book as it was a pretty short read.
I liked Becca's strong character and how she could handle herself. She was a great protagonist. As well as this the subtle romance that develops throughout was a nice change from the darker and more twisted side of the book. It added a bit of light and happiness.
The one thing that did annoy me slightly was that throughout the book the font kept changing from bold to normal and I couldn't seem to find a pattern as to why it was happening. I don't know if it was deliberate or a formatting issue but it put emphasis on random sections and was slightly distracting as it kept switching. The other this was the font size did change when journal entries were written and again this caused the same problems. I would have preferred they stayed the same size and were put in italics.
Overall Killer Scents was a dark and twisted murder mystery that was weirdly interesting. It keeps you hooked with its fast pace and unpredictable plot. If you like crime, mystery or books with murder check this out.
Rating 3.5
Description
Luke Jeffers is a student at Brafferton Community College in Fort Christanna, Virginia. Like any other college guy, he dreams about Amy, his grade-school crush, and finds time to party on the weekends while struggling to make his meager budget pay his bills. But unlike anyone else, Luke has discovered the secret Department of Defense Application for Remote Kinetics that unlocks a whirlwind of shocking events, and changes Luke's life direction forever.
While working as an intern at a Computer Information Systems research facility, Luke secretly downloads games from the main server onto his smart phone. Unbeknownst to him, Dark Application is also installed on his phone. And once Dark Application is installed on a phone, it can never be removed. Suddenly Luke's life takes on utterly unpredicted changes; he passes his first Chemistry exam, he mysteriously acquires a large sum of money, and he finally gets the girl of his dreams go out with him on Valentine's Day. Slowly the Dark Application sucks him in, and he becomes addicted and unable to put it down.
Lurking just around the corner in this thriller are horrific secrets and mystery that land Luke in a world of hurt, and he becomes entangled in a web of murder, lies, and criminal activities that shock the town and lead to his ultimate destruction. Dark Application: One, is the technothriller of the iPhone era and a fast-paced, quick read, that will lead into the next book of The Dark Application Series.
My Opinion
Standing at 26,391 words (100 pages) this book was an incredibly quick read that took only a few hours to read. Even though it was a shorter book than I would have normally like there was a lot of content packed into it.
Dark Applications had a unique, modern and interesting concept as it followed Luke Jeffers when his life started to slowly be controlled by an app he downloaded. There was a lot of action included in the short amount of pages and it did keep you hooked when reading. It made you want to read on and find out what the phone was going to make him do next. The start also gripped me. It intrigued me into what had happened and linked with the ending nicely. I really didn't see the way it ended coming.
However sometimes the book lacked detail and jumped from once scene to the next quite rapidly. Although this didn't confuse me, I would have liked to have had more of a back story and for it to 'show me' with description rather than 'telling me' as I couldn't really connect with the characters as the book stands now. Also I found myself questioning the believe-ability of the plot and whether or not someone would really just follow a message on the phone without question. For me it just didn't seem realistic but maybe that was because of the little description or maybe it needed smaller tasks before building up to following directions.
As well as this the writing did become a little repetitive. I don't mean the story line but rather the sentence structure. Quite often there were occurrence where sentences that followed on from each other started with the same word "She...She...She..." I think the book could use another edit to pick up on this to help the writing flow smoother and not become repetitive.
Overall this was an interesting read that has both good and bad points. It was original, action packed and surprising which was great considering it is such a short book. For me though it wasn't as believable as I would have liked and the lack of detail made it hard for me to engage with the characters. I think this book could be really interesting if it goes through another edit so the repetitiveness is removed and it shows the reader instead of telling them.
Description
Cashing Out
Do I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
How can I, when the truth will destroy us all? Now that I’ve started telling lies, I can’t stop. Not until all this is over, and I’m free of the family that never felt like mine. Maybe it’s wrong. Maybe I’m a bad person.
But it’s definitely the only way I’m ever going to escape them. I have to take the opportunity, no matter how terrible it is...don’t I?
My Opinion
I couldn't wait for judgment to be released and I'm pleased to say it was worth it! After reading book 1,2&3 in quick succession I was left on a terrible cliffhanger that meant I was wanting more but not able to read it, so when I saw Judgment was released I had to buy it and start reading straight away.
The book picks up pretty much where it left off, with Rain in prison and Asher working hard on her case. I was unsure how Jade Varden would keep the momentum through the book and where she would lead us with the story but learning from previous experiences with her work I didn't eve try to guess, knowing it would be unpredictable.
Judgement moved at a fast pace which pleasantly surprised me as most of it is set in the court room. I loved the way Varden made the trial interesting and engaging to read with elements of cleverly placed humor. I thought it might be a little like To Kill a Mockingbird (which bored me to death when I studied it) but Judgment, although similar was far more interesting. Constant battles between the lawyers, witnesses and judge kept things moving at a rapid and engaging pace, keeping me hooked to find out what the next testimony would be.
Like always with Varden's work, the writing flows effortlessly to create an interesting, intriguing and well developed plot that is easy for the audience to understand. She also kept the terminology pretty basic which I was thankful for as it meant I could enjoy the story without worrying about complex lawyer terms. She struck the balance perfectly with the detail she went into and the terms she used. The plot was easy to follow and even though it summed up what we already knew, Varden wrote it in a way that made it seem like a separate and different narrative which was great as it didn't feel repetitive in anyway.
Throughout the book Varden leaves subtle/not so subtle hints about some big turn of events and a plan Rain is devising which kept me turning pages until about 2am, as I had to finish the book the same day. I must admit that I could not predict what happened in the ending though. I had an idea of what might occur in general but what I read was even better and worth the wait. It rounded off the series nicely and made sure there was a big enough resolve to keep the reader satisfied and without questions.
While reading there were a few minor typos "Ran" instead of "Rain" or "dd" instead of "did" but the quality of all the books in general have been to a high standard that even if there are a few mistakes they don't detract in any way from the writing. Believe me you will be too engrossed to notice and I only spotted them as I was in editor mode when I started reading.
Over all I would not only high recommend this book but the whole series as a must read! This book rounds everything off nicely and gives enough detail about characters to leave you satisfied with the feeling of finality I'm so glad the author contacted me about Justice(#1) so I could buy the others and experience this great series. All the books have unpredictable twists that will keep you wanting more, fast paced action, romance and so much more. You would be silly to miss out on reading this book!
